Waiting For This Moment
by jpscyther24
Summary: It's Logan Shepard's eighteenth birthday, little does she know that the moment she's been waiting for since childhood, is about to come to fruition.


**Chapter One: Birthday**

"Hey Logan, where are you going?" yelled Ace, an Asian teen with androgynous features, also known for being the best driver in the city. This was displayed proudly via her skycar tattoo on her left forearm. Ace was also a member of the notorious Tenth Street Reds.

"Taking a walk. It's a nice day for once. Figured I would take advantage of it." replied Logan Shepard, a slender teenager with dirty blond hair, blueish-grey eyes, and a slight scar cutting through her left eyebrow. A reminder of her life with the Reds.

"And miss your own birthday party? Come on. Grab a drink and party with us."

"I'm just walking a few blocks, Ace. I'll be back in like 30 minutes. Besides, it's _my_ birthday, I'll do what I damn well please." Logan cocked her hip and raised her eyebrow and gave Ace a stern look which meant that she had no chance of changing her mind. "Now go enjoy the party."

"Psh. Whatever, blondie." Ace winked on the last word as a smile crept over her face. "Have fun on your walk."

"Better than being in a car with you." Logan winked and blew her a kiss as she walked out of the base, the steel door slamming behind her.

Logan looked up at the sky and saw flecks of blue peeking out between the tips and spaces of the various skyscrapers that made up the skyline. Logan made her way north, instinctually toward her favorite sushi place. Ace had taken her there on her 16th birthday, she would always love Ace for taking her there. It was the one safe haven she had found in this pit hole of a city. From the Reds, from the police, and from the other gangs. No one messed with Morimoto's Sushi Palace. No one knew why, but no one ever bothered to ask either. It was just one of those universal laws that everyone knew.

As Logan continued to walk toward Morimoto's, she had decided she was gonna get some birthday sushi for her and Ace, flashes of red and blue in the corner of her eye made her tense up slightly. Logan slowly glanced toward the source of the lights, and saw another crime scene, which most likely contained another dead body. Logan had lost count of how many dead bodies she's seen in her short life. The first had been her parents, at least that's what she was told by Hunter, the de facto leader of the group of Reds she belonged to.

**Chapter Two: Rescued**

Hunter Levesque, a tall, barrell-shouldered man, with golden hair tied back in a tail at the base of his neck, had found Logan walking the streets outside her apartment building when she was 6. She had walked up to him without any sense of fear or trepidation.

"Excuse me mister. My parents won't wake up, and I'm really hungry. Can you get me some food?" Asked little Logan Shepard. Wearing a dirty pink sundress, with an even dirtier jacket over it. Her blond hair was cut short at the shoulders.

"What's your name, sweetie? And where do you live? Maybe I can wake them up."

"L-Logan. Logan Shepard." She stammered as Hunter knelt down to look her in the eyes. "They won't wake up. I think they are dead. They have red marks around their necks and are very cold." Logan dipped her head, as if she was ashamed she couldn't wake them up.

"Hello Logan. I'm Hunter. Can you show me which apartment is yours?" He may have been a gang leader, and a murderer, but even Hunter Levesque would never kill someone with a child. _No child deserved to grow up like he did_, he thought as Logan escorted him up the few flights of steps to the 3rd floor apartment.

"Wait here." Hunter spoke with such authority that he knew the little girl would listen. When he investigated the apartment, he found them dead, with deep red marks across their throats. The apartment had also been ransacked. Clearly the work of someone they owed money to, or had really pissed off.

_At least the killer has the morals to not kill a little girl, _thought Hunter as he walked out of the apartment.

"I'm sorry, Logan. But they're dead. At least a week from what I can tell. Why don't we go get some food. You can stay with me. I'll protect you."

"Ok. Can I get a burger and shake? I really want a shake."

"Of course." Hunter grabbed Logan's hand and they walked down the steps, out of the building, and down the street. Hunter noticed that Logan never once looked back at the building where her parents lay dead.

_She's stronger than she seems. _Hunter thought to himself as they continued down the street.

**Chapter Three: Panic**

_Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. _The trilling sound of Logan's phone snapped her out of her flashback. She realized she was half a block from Morimoto's. _Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep._ Logan finally picked up after the third ring, when she saw it was Ace calling.

"Hey Ace, do you want something from Morim-" Shepard was cut off by the sound of gunfire and screaming.

"We're being raided, Logan! Get back here now! I ne-" Yelled Ace, clearly panicked, as the sounds of gunfire and screams were suddenly cut silent.

"Ace? ACE!?" Panic rose in Logan's gut. _Don't panic. Panic won't help. Get back to base. Don't panic. Deep breaths._ Logan repeated this in her mind as she sprinted, pistol out and biotics at the ready, down the street back toward the Reds base.

After what felt like hours, although was no more than a few minutes, Logan could see the base. It was half a block away. Police had cordoned off the street. Gunfire echoed throughout the street. She was going to help her friends, to help Ace, no matter what, or _who_, was in her way. As Logan leaped the barricade, ignoring the shouts of the police, the building exploded. The explosion sent her flying backwards toward the barricade before she even had a chance to put a barrier up. As Logan collided with the barricade, the smell of burning dust filled her lungs as she went unconscious from the impact.

**Chapter Four: Untethered**

Logan awoke just a few moments later, blinking the grogginess out of her head while wiping the blood off her face, she noticed the sounds of gunfire had been replaced with yelling and sirens. Firefighters were working to douze the blaze that had sprung up in the neighboring buildings. No one seemed to notice her. Logan slowly rose to her feet, holstered her pistol, and climbed across the vehicles of the police barricade. Again, no one noticed.

_Why notice a bleeding girl leaving an explosion when there are buildings on fire._ Thought Logan as she turned around to look at the remains of the only _real_ home she ever remembered having. It was a small modest 3-story building, much like the apartment complex she had lived in as a child. Except the top 2 floors where gone. Parts of it were scattered around the area, inside neighboring buildings, or had collapsed into the building itself. Knowing that no one would have survived the explosion, a sudden feeling of epiphany and euphoria had creeped into her mind.

_I'm free. This is it. The chance to run away and leave the Reds behind. The moment I always talked about with Ace._ Logan had dreamed of this day ever since she joined the Reds. Even though Hunter was like a father to her, she hated his xenophobic tendencies. She always avoided being involved in anything anti-alien, as best she could. Ace always felt the same way, that's part of what drew Logan to Ace in the first place.

_Ace. _The feeling of euphoria was slowly replaced with a melancholic dread. Logan began to make her way back toward the building, she thought to herself, _I'm going to find you Ace_. _Get you to a hospital, and then we're gonna leave. Get the hell off this planet and start over._ Just as Logan was climbing back over the barricade, she saw it. The half-body being carried out by firefighters. The face was covered by a small blood-soaked cloth, but what drew Logan's attention was the tattoo on the arm. Hard to see what the tattoo was from a distance, with dread growing inside her, _Please not her,_ Logan made her way over to the body. Nobody stopped her, or even acknowledged her presence. Suddenly, Logan froze as if paralysed by an unknown force. _No. Please not her. _She could see the tattoo clear as day, even through the blood and dirt that caked the body, in deep red and black tones...a beautiful skycar tattoo.

**Chapter Five: Blackbird**

Logan dropped to her knees, removed the blood-soaked clothed from Ace's face and pulled Ace up into her arms. Closing her eyes to quell the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Crying won't bring her back, Logan pressed her forehead to Ace's and began to sing a song she once heard while in the musical archive at the library.

_"Blackbird singing in the dead of night. _

_Fix these broken wings and learn to fly. _

_All your life…_

_you were only waiting for this moment to arise._

_Blackbird fly..."_

Finishing the song with her voice shaking, tears flowing freely down her face, Logan kissed Ace on the forehead. With the taste of sweat and salt on her lips. Logan laid Ace back down on the ground.

"Goodbye, Ace. I love you." Logan spoke as she finally stood up, wiping the tears out of her eyes and off her face. Looking one last time at the broken body of her girlfriend, Logan turned on the spot and began walking. Past the barricade, past the gathered crowd, their faces nothing but blurs, Logan continued walking north. Logan's body seemed to be on auto-pilot, her mind completely devoid of thought or emotion.

By the time Logan had snapped back into reality, she was sitting in a booth at Morimoto's. Looking at the table, Logan had noticed that she had ordered two meals. Her usual salmon sashimi, as well as Ace's favorite, vegetable sushi with extra soy sauce. Logan could never get used to the taste of the _nori_ used to wrap the sushi. The texture had always weirded her out. Eschewing this feeling, Logan began to eat both meals, knowing Ace would never forgive her for wasting good sushi.

Logan sat there in the booth for another couple of hours, even ordering another salmon sashimi. As she sat back down to enjoy her third meal, Logan noticed three men walk in. All three were wearing sharp blue suits, with gold trimming the shoulders, cuffs, and edges of the suit jacket. Logan thought it strange that 3 people would be dressed the exact same, she then noticed the bars on the shoulders of the oldest male.

_Military uniform._ Logan thought to herself. _Wonder if the need a former gang member? I'm pretty handy with a pistol and my biotics._ Logan looked down at the half-eaten plate of salmon sashimi as well as the remnants of the vegetable sushi. _I've got nothing tethering me here anymore. I think it's time to go out and see the galaxy. If I stay here, I'll just end up back where I came from. Or worse, dead like Ace and the rest of the Reds._ Finishing her sashimi, Logan took a deep breath, and made her way over to the booth where the soldiers were sitting.

Logan came to a rest at the edge of the table; With her back straight, chin up, and her hands behind her back. She spoke in the proudest voice she had:

"Excuse me, gentlemen. My name is Logan Shepard, and I would like to join the Alliance."


End file.
